One of the most colourful characters ever to have been seen in motor racing, 'Fon' was a fantastic all-round sportsman. A Spanish nobleman, he was three times French amateur champion jockey, and appeared twice at Aintree - where he never raced cars - in the Grand National steeplechase; he was an international-class swimmer; and in addition he created the Spanish bobsleigh team to take part in the 1956 Winter Olympics.

He took up motor racing in 1954, briefly sharing Schell's big 4.5-litre Ferrari on its way to second place in the Buenos Aires 1000 Km, but usually handled less potent machinery to begin with, his Maserati 2-litre winning a race at Metz.

In 1955 de Portago joined the Scuderia Ferrari and while his F1 outings were restricted to non-championship races his sports car programme saw him take second in the Venezuelan GP and win the Governor's Cup at Nassau. He was included in Ferrari's large Grand Prix squad during 1956, sharing the second-place car in the British GP with Collins, while in sports cars the highlight of his season was a win in the Tour de France in his Ferrari GT.

The 1957 season started well with a shared fifth place in the Argentine GP and success in sports car events, de Portago taking a win at Montlh?ry and third places in both the Buenos Aires 1000 Km and the Cuban GP, the latter after a brilliant drive when time was lost at a long pit stop. He was unhappy at taking part in the Mille Miglia, which he considered unnecessarily dangerous, but he competed nevertheless, only for disaster to strike less than 120 km before the finish. It is thought that a tyre burst hurling the Ferrari of de Portago and his long-time friend and co-driver Ed Nelson into the crowd. Ten unfortunate spectators were killed, along with the car's occupants, and the famous road race was banned forthwith by the Italian government.